UPDATE: Thank you for your interest in youth and development issues. We want to inform you that this blog will soon be archived and we are thrilled to announce that you can now find all the stories, blogs, multimedia and reports dedicated to youth on the new Youth page: worldbank.org/youth. We are looking forward to your visit! – The World Bank Web Team.

Tackling Youth Unemployment through Entrepreneurship: A Call for Innovative Spirit, Voices, and Actions from Global Youth

Youth unemployment has grown in prominence on national and global development agendas. In 2007, nearly 70 million young people were out of work. This figure climbed to 72.6 million by 2011. In 2012, young people made up more than 40% of the world’s total unemployed population.

When faced with the youth unemployment crisis worldwide, citizens often turn to governments and experts for guidance and tend to overlook the critical role that youth themselves can play as a strong force for change and innovation. As unemployment continues to hurt the young generation, engaging youth in efforts to address unemployment challenges is more relevant and important than ever.

At a meeting with young professionals at the World Bank Group late last year, President Jim Yong Kim stressed the importance of including youth on the front lines of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. In response to his call, the youth communities at the World Bank Group are jointly launching a Youth Summit using a Development Case Competition as a platform for discussions and results.

Under this common theme, young people around the world will form teams and participate in a Development Case Competition online. The four cases posed in the competition highlight real-life unemployment issues facing governments and development organizations and are focused on three areas: education, youth employment, and millennial communications. Innovations in these areas will help boost job creation and youth entrepreneurship.

From now to Sept. 8, people between the ages of 18 and 35 are invited to submit proposals that introduce socially innovative solutions to the challenges described in the cases. Award prizes vary by case and may include cash prizes and a chance to personally present your proposal to the implementing partner.

The World Bank Group’s first Youth Summit is scheduled for October 23, 2013 in Washington D.C. The day-long Summit will feature panel discussions on topics related to challenges of youth unemployment by notable experts from the development community and will provide a forum for young people from around the globe to share innovative ideas and development solutions that help create opportunities for employment.

Youth unemployment cannot be solved by governments and experts alone. We believe that, by giving the youth a voice, the young generation can be empowered and transformed from potential victims of unemployment into active agents who offer solutions, promote actions, and inspire real change."

This initiative by and for youth is timely. I am over 50 years, not a youth but I wish to give a suggestion if I may. In many countries, there are many abandoned buildings left uncompleted or empty. These buildings should be renovated and repaired by the youth groups and let out as low cost housing or dorms or shelters for the needy or even schools and skills training centres. Just for a start to community development. Thank You.

This is a very unique venture to at least help create a self-reliant world youth population.
On behalf of the Kholifa Rowalla Youth Committee (KoRYoC)Northern Sierra Leone, I want to register our interest in this program- the Secretary General

Since we are talking of youth unemployment, with no doubt, governments of different nations of the world has failed to impliment youth friendly policies to address this. But I still insist that we the youths should create solutions to our problems. We must initiate independent researches, develop business ideas and impliment creative innovations that will draw the attention of our government. It may interest you all to know that we are not demoralized, we are toiling and pushing to achieve, our occassional wide dreams, realms of paradise beyound the compass of our daily real existence. My proposal will come soon. Cheers Ugwuja George Odinakachi

Decrease the rate of income tax for the over 50's to about 7.5%, to those who are on a wage of £11,000 - £17,000, which is a lot of the public sector workers. This way the lower income earners can save for retirement and then the retirement age can be decreased to about 60 years old. At the same time introduce more schemes to help the youth. As a result, when people retire earlier, the youth can come through at the same time, creating jobs for the younger generation. Then as the older generation are saving for retirement, they should be allocated a separate ISA or Currnet accounts where the interest rate is higher,say about 5%, this way benefits can be cut, because the money the older generation have saved in the last 10years will last them longer. In other words they can live off the interest. With the benifits being cut, the income tax off other workers could be used to generate better schemes for youth progression. Now the older generation have been sorted, this leaves opportunities for the younger generation, as businesses will need new talent, the youth unemployment rate will decrease. Creating a constant flow of youth development and a new era for talent on a global scale.

To reduce the youth unemployment rate to encourage employers we need make tax refund in the amount of 80% of the wage of the employee under the age of 25 years. At the same time set limits on age groups: 14-16 years - 10 hours a week, not less than 20 euros per hour, 17-19 years - 15 hours a week, not less than 25 euros per hour, 20-22 years - 20 hours per week, not less than 30 euros per hour 23-25 ​​years - 30 hours a week, not less than 35 euros per hour. In addition, it is necessary for schools and universities provide students 1 - 2 free days for work.

The idea is to have a platform where offer and demand can be matched.
1. we need a central and independent office to propose a secure and private self declaration form where people can state their centers of interests and capabilities. Such a detailed user profile is mandatory anyway if we want to be able to mach offer with demand. Moreover, this could improve Digital Marketing and people could obtain customized online published content as they want it.
2. we need a platform where people can declare their availability (tee time reservation) and get notified when an action/activity/job matching their skills and interests is posted.
3. we need organizations to work project-oriented in order to propose formalized 'tasks/deliverables' and publish them on the platform. Why not extend the service to private individuals to get stuff locally done: e.g. need someone to take the dog for a walk
4. we need a new financial model and commoditize these services. This way we allow people to get acknowledged for their social contribution.
I'd be glad to share more if you agree that people should get rewarded for their contributions. This way people can engage in activities that make sense for them. On the other hand, more needs could be met because individuals could ask for a service without worrying about the money. There must be a collaboration with eGovernment platforms (tax process improvement). In a good and fair model, if I help someone in a professional way (due diligence) and the activity develops a skill, I should also automatically obtain ECTS credits to get my new skills validated without having to be part of a educational network nor an university.
I'd love to further develop the idea with you guys.
Thanks to all who are helping to push the anti-dirty-capitalisme reform forward.

Introduce significant tax cuts for businesses that offer a standard wage of $2.50 but place a 20% gratuity charge for the server/employee on each individual sale. That will negate the cost of wages,( the key deterrent in hiring more employees) allowing expenses to be used elsewhere and the employee will significantly benefit as they will earn beneficial skills - obviously it isn't applicable in every field but it will certainly cut the unemployment rates for unskilled and the adolescent young adult bracket - a potential knock on effect would be adolescents could afford to fund degrees and diplomas - avoid by all means developing incentives for the unemployed to join the public work force as it would lure uneducated unqualified labour and only be a short term solution

I am not really sure if this is how one applies to this but there's my suggestion anyway.

From our region, as Pacific Islands specifically in Tonga, projects should be based on employment oriented in terms of cultivating young people into an initiative of making employment opportunity to its maximized level, therefore the local resources would be an advantage in making handicrafts out of it, while there are opportunities but of course of the mindset, it should be empower young people into making ventures in the programs that will foster attitude change against the mindset of white collar employment jobs instead of engaging them into greener environment such as making agriculture as a viable option to address unemployment such as our project on VCO project adhere4d to engage youth into employment initiative. Also a friendly youth enabling environment such as law and policy that allows youth engagement and further their opportunity such as seasonal fruit picking in NZ and Australia...I hope this might help

Unemployment is sad that there are not only in my city, but in the world, I have a degree of communication, I have work experience yet companies do not hire me.

It's time to get up, to require, to seek, to this generation to make a real change, united, separated not do anything, no matter the city, the country, we want to move forward, not stay like this, we young, we profession,we dreamers , this is our moment.

I wanted to travel, worldwide hire me, be contacted, entrepreneurs believe in us, WE ARE THE FUTURE, WE ARE TODAY, let it forward.